


Homecoming

by elstarwarslover



Series: The Other Other Epilogues [7]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Duelling, Feels, Fights, Gen, Introspection, Roleplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21997252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elstarwarslover/pseuds/elstarwarslover
Summary: Davepeta is new in town and looking for someone to fight to keep their skills sharp.  Dirk is always looking for an excuse to break out his magnificent sword.  What happens next will warm your heart.
Series: The Other Other Epilogues [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1594504
Kudos: 16





	Homecoming

Davepeta flaps their wings once to stay in place in the air. It’s not strictly necessary, since sprites kind of float anyway, but they like the way the wind feels under their wings. Maybe they could’ve been a Breath player, had they been given the choice. Would’ve been better than Time, that’s for damn sure. Heart at least is pretty cool, and they’ve been getting more and more acquainted with that aspect as they’ve come to know themself.

The other Heart player stands across from them, his black tank top showing off the most godpawful tattoo in existence. Dirk’s whole body seems in stasis, but Davepeta knows better than to think he’s frozen. Every muscle in Dirk’s body is ready to pounce. Davepeta protracts their claws and smiles.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < you ready for this bro  
DIRK: You know it.  
DIRK: You’re not about to back out, are you?  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < *davepeta stumbles back in shock*  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < *except not really cause theyre way too cool for that*  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < i was born ready

Dirk jumps forward and slashes his sword up at Davepeta, who warps time to get away. The two of them pause, now having swapped places. Dirk turns around, his lips pressed into his trademark disaffected line. Davepeta starts in a clockwise circle towards Dirk, and Dirk follows suit to maintain their distance.

DIRK: Nice move.  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < purrlenty more where that came from

Davepeta pounces this time. They close the distance in a flash and feint with a left jab. Dirk blocks it on the outside, and Davepeta follows through with a right hook intended to land claw-first against Dirk’s temple. Instead Dirk rolls to his right and regains the distance between them.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < nice move  
DIRK: Plenty more where that came from.

Davepeta circles counterclockwise this time, and again Dirk follows suit. The real fight hasn’t begun yet, they think; Dirk isn’t willing to commit to it yet. Davepeta shoots into the sky, hoping to jumpstart the fight for real. Dirk could follow them, of course, but they know their bro. He’ll be waiting back on the ground with some kind of trap. Davepeta pauses at the peak of their arc to bask in the warm Earth C sun. After so long spent in the uncaring cold of space, it’s relaxing to feel that kind of warmth. It reminds them of cold nights spent in front of the fireplace with Pounce de Leon, or the hot Texas sun on the roof of their apartment. Although, the memory of the second is not quite so pleasant, quite frankly. They let themselves fall backwards and lock their eyes onto Dirk’s figure back on the ground. Davepeta pins their wings to their back and stretches their arms over their head.

Dirk stands below, his feet shoulder-width apart and his sword pointing straight out. He’s watching Davepeta fall towards him with what seems to be a look of complete disinterest. When Davepeta gets closer, though, they notice a shift in his posture. His stance widens, and his grip on the sword tightens. Davepeta brings back both claws in preparation to strike, but Dirk moves first. Instead of swinging upward, Dirk lets go of the sword with his right hand and throws it upward.

Davepeta feels what might be described as their soul leaving their body, if they had only the one to lose. But there are millions of Nepetas contained within them, and for each Nepeta a hundred Daves. The sudden quiet is maddening. Davepeta slams face-first into the ground at terminal velocity.

For the first time in days, Nepeta and Dave exist as separate entities. They still have the same body, but not for long if this continues. An experienced Heart player might be able to counteract Dirk’s move in an instant, and a mediocre Mind player might do the same. But this Nepeta never godtiered and certainly never mastered her powers, nor does she have access now to the experiences of the other Nepetas who did.

DAVESPRITE: oh wow  
DAVESPRITE: didnt expect this to be how it ends  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac tilts her head at dave*  
DAVESPRITE: the whole “our soul being ripped out of our body” thing?  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac rolls her eyes because thats obfurous*  
DAVESPRITE: guess i never really asked you what you felt about the whole arrangement anyway  
DAVESPRITE: so maybe its fur the better  
DAVESPRITE: for  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac walks up to dave and nuzzles his hand*  
DAVESPRITE: what  
DAVESPRITE: oh i uh  
DAVESPRITE: i guess i pet your head?  
DAVESPRITE: *dave pets acs head*?  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac purrs and crawls into daves lap*  
DAVESPRITE: daww  
DAVESPRITE: im glad we at least got to have a good time for a bit  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac considers what she can do right now*  
NEPETA: :33 < i mean  
NEPETA: :33 < let me try something

Nepeta reaches out and realizes that she can still feel the myriad souls that once cohabitated this body. They’re somewhere between here and nonexistence, but there are too many for Dirk to destroy all at once. He bit off more than he could chew, as it were, and it bought them a bit of time. She sifts through all of the souls to find one Dave in particular, one who had had a particular clarity of purpose. A Dave who had lost his bro to suicide and lost himself to a facade of cool. A Dave who had learned the secrets of the universe and gone on to fight a different version of Dirk. A Dave who had met Obama.

NEPETA: :33 < are you ready?  
DAVESPRITE: i mean is anyone ever really ready for the infinite malaise of death?  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac stretches in daves lap and meows in his face*  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac flicks her tail in the direction of the guy currently beating davepeta into a pulp*  
NEPETA: :33 < *ac reminds dave of that time they took down the bigger badder version of that same guy*  
DAVESPRITE: what in the goddamn are you talking about  
NEPETA: :33 < oh fur the love of  
NEPETA: :33 < i think i can get us an extra pair of claws  
DAVESPRITE: oh shit really  
DAVESPRITE: i mean is that even something you want  
DAVESPRITE: idk you seemed pretty happy on your own  
DAVESPRITE: maybe this is for the best  
NEPETA: :33 < i actually like being davepeta, to be quite honest  
NEPETA: :33 < dont you?  
DAVESPRITE: okay yeah maybe  
NEPETA: :33 < so lets fix this  
NEPETA: :33 < just let me know when youre ready  
DAVESPRITE: do it

Nepeta focuses in on Dave’s memories as best she can. She finds the day that he entered the Medium and sifts through every experience she can where he used Time to his advantage despite the sore lack of it. Then she takes those experiences and applies them to her own powers as a Rogue of Heart. She can’t weaponize it like a Knight, so she doesn’t try, but she can steal it. She remembers everything she can about Davebot’s life, and finds him again in the crowd outside. She sees him here in front of her, and there he is.

Outside, Dirk freezes, and every soul that he had been wrestling with goes back into Davepeta’s body. Davepeta stands and protracts their claws again. Dirk won’t be held long, but Davepeta doesn’t need much time. They walk up to Dirk and wrestle the sword from his hand. They toss it over to the side, which he will presumably complain about bitterly after this match is done. Then they raise their claws up to his cheek and scrape three parallel scratches into it. They’re careful to only leave them at the surface level—this is a friendly match, after all. When they’re done, Davepeta unfreezes Dirk and shoves him over.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < caw caw motherfucker  
DIRK: Well, fuck.  
DIRK: Did you toss my sword into the fucking dirt?  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < whatre you gonna do about it  
DIRK: Don’t test me.  
DIRK: I will write a thousand speeches just to decry your very existence.  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < yeah yeah whatever  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < you owe me the biggest stick of salami this side of existence first though  
DIRK: Those were the stakes, weren’t they?  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < yes ind33d  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < and i do intend to collect  
DIRK: Well, come on then.  
DIRK: I’ve got a week to practice before our next match, and I don’t intend to lose again.  
DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < oh yeah well see about that

**Author's Note:**

> Would Dirk have actually killed Davepeta? Certainly not, this was just a friendly duel. But Davesprite is eternally melodramatic, and so here we are. I also just realized upon writing this that names in chatlogs are all capitalized; it helps readability a lot, especially since Davepeta and Dirk use the same color. I also wasn't quite sure how to handle davesprite (specifically) as a separate entity from nepetasprite (herself separate from nepeta, within the sprite), talking to her within the confines of davepeta as a complete entity, but I decided to treat him basically as a whole sprite, which was itself prototyped (which I believe runs closest to canon). The stakes for whoever won were originally going to be ice cream, but I like the "cats can have a little salami" meme that's going around, so it's in there now.


End file.
